Five years since the start of the pandemic

Today is the fifth anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a global pandemic. I begin my observance with CBS New York on The COVID pandemic's impact 5 years later.

COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic five years ago, when offices emptied, schools went virtual and social gatherings were canceled. How do Americans feel about its impact today?

CBS New York prepared two graphics summarizing the Pew Research Center's findings.


Yeah, that looks about right. In addition, Alec Tyson from Pew mentioned one other bad effect, student achievement suffering from not being in school during the worst of the pandemic. I still see signs of pandemic disruption among my students five years later. The flip side is what was bad for children, working from home, was and still is good for a lot of adults.

Pew also examined Americans' attitudes about a future outbreak.


I don't know whether these findings make me feel encouraged or discouraged. I suppose I could say the country could do better, but the backlash to the pandemic response, including election of the current administration, might make it do worse. Sigh.

Next, I turn to PBS NewsHour reporting on The COVID pandemic’s lingering physical and mental toll, five years later.

Five years ago this week, the World Health Organization called the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. In the United States, officials declared a national emergency, triggering travel bans for non-U.S. citizens and shutdowns nationwide. Now, many who lived through the pandemic, including those who treated infected patients, are still dealing with the fallout. Ali Rogin reports.

Those were heart-breaking stories, which Dr. Sasha McBain identified as expressions of grief. They make me glad my wife and I got through the pandemic relatively unscathed. I'm also happy to hear Dr. Fritz Francois describe how NYU Langone Health was prompted by Hurricane Sandy to prepare for unexpected or exceptional events. In particular, I was impressed that they ran an exercise for an outbreak of MERS. Both MERS and COVID-19 are zoonotic coronavirus diseases, so I'm sure much of the MERS responses carried over to COVID-19. Good work!

Since this is a Michigan-based blog, I can't resist ending with a local angle on the story. Watch WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids report on Lasting impact of COVID-19 pandemic 5 years later.

Health officials detail lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic five years after the first case in Michigan. (March 10, 2025)

The U.S. lost 100,000 nurses since the pandemic. Yikes!

Today is also the 14th anniversary of the Fukushima triple disaster, but I've had enough of tragedy. Stay tuned for an evergreen entry tomorrow.